The Tribe (now with long-time AL Central destroyer Melky Cabrera, making his Indians’ debut) will try to win the series tonight against the Astros after narrowly avoiding another bullpen implosion yesterday and wasting another excellent Corey Kluber start.
(I mean, did you see how close Carlos Correa came to putting the defending champs up in the eighth inning yesterday? Like, what, a foot and a half? You could feel Neil Ramirez looking for a place to become invisible immediately, especially after Alex Bregman tagged him for a legitimate bomb. My point of contention is that the short porch in left field should be illegal. Routine pop flies somehow become home runs. And yes, Michael Brantley benefited yesterday, but it still ain’t right. At least you have to get some lift to get it over the Green Monster. Minute Maid Park really is a juice box. If I were a hitter worth my salt, I’d be screaming at my agent to get me there. It’s a hitter’s paradise.)
Cookie Carrasco will try to avoid the cheap fates that Mike Clevinger and Dallas Keuchel have suffered over the weekend so far. The Astros will counter with Lance McCullers, Jr.
Lineups are as follows:
Indians | Astros | ||
SS
|
Francisco Lindor |
CF
|
George Springer |
LF
|
Michael Brantley |
3B
|
Alex Bregman |
3B
|
Jose Ramirez |
2B
|
Jose Altuve |
DH
|
Edwin Encarnacion |
SS
|
Carlos Correa |
1B
|
Yonder Alonso |
RF
|
Josh Reddick |
RF
|
Melky Cabrera |
DH
|
Yuli Gurriel |
2B
|
Jason Kipnis |
1B
|
Marwin Gonzalez |
C
|
Yan Gomes |
C
|
Brian McCann |
CF
|
Greg Allen |
LF
|
Tony Kemp |
SP
|
Carlos Carrasco |
SP
|
Lance McCullers, Jr. |